Tag Archives: XDA Forums

Motorola Atrix 4G owners, this is the day you all have been impatiently waiting for. Yesterday, we reported that Motorola might unlock the boot loader on the Atrix 4G with the Android 2.3 Gingerbread update.

However, the awesomely talented folks over at XDA have managed to beat Motorola, and have unlocked the boot loader on the Atrix 4G.

The whole method to unlock the boot loader on the Atrix 4G can be found here. Do make a backup of your data, since the handset will be wiped clean of any data when the boot loader is unlocked. Sadly, there is a catch though. The method only works on AT&T branded and OLYFR branded version of the Atrix 4G.

Other branded version of handsets threw an error when users tried to unlock the boot loader. The phone did not brick itself, so there is no issue in trying.

The unlocked boot loader means we should start seeing custom kernels and true custom ROMs for the handset. In fact, ClockWorkMod Recovery is already available for unlocked Atrix 4G handsets. Here is the link to the appropriate thread over at XDA forums.

The Samsung Galaxy S II is the best smartphone in the market right now. The handset is feature packed to the brim, and hardly has any major issues.

The Galaxy S II is also among the first few handsets to record videos in 1080p (1920 x 1080) resolution. The handset records full HD videos with 64kbps AAC mono audio quality, at 16Mbit/s bitrate.

Now, two different camera mods for the Galaxy S II have been developed. One mod increases the video recording bitrate to 24MBit/s, and the second one increases the audio quality to 192 kbps/44.1Khz. .

Below is a video of the Samsung Galaxy S II recording full HD videos with 192Kbps audio bitrate:

The first mod is by the popular HyperX, while the second mod is by Potatoman. The former mod still has not released for fellow SGS II owners, because he is still testing it.

However, the mod by Potatoman is already available for download over at XDA forums. This mod will also allow Galaxy S II owners to record videos and click photos even when the battery life is <15%. Galaxy S owners need to root their phone, before they can install this mod on their phone.

HTC Desire Z owners can get a taste of Android 2.3 Gingerbread on their handsets, thanks to a RUU leak of the Gingerbread test ROM from HTC.

The leaked RUU is based on Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread with HTC’s Sense UI running on top of it. The leaked RUU also brings with it a new radio which improves signal reception and 4G’ download speeds, but at the expense of higher battery consumption.

One of the developers rmk40 has already gone ahead and released a custom ROM based on this leaked RUU with root access and busybox installed.

Sadly, unlike the Nexus S which uses the ETX4 file system, the Desire Z Gingerbread ROM uses the EXT3 file system. Users who flashed this ROM also reported ultra-quick boot-up times and improved battery life.

T-Mobile G2 owners can also flash this leaked RUU on their phone, since the handset is similar to the Desire Z. HTC Desire Z or T-Mobile G2 owners can download and install the leaked Android 2.3 Gingerbread RUU on their phone from here.

The folks over at XDA-Developers have been tipped by an anonymous tipster with a bunch of pictures of the upcoming HTC Pyramid.

Earlier leaks of the HTC Pyramid did not provide much information, except for a 4.3-inch screen with qHD resolution.

The Pyramid will be powered by a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor from Qualcomm along with an Adreno 220 GPU for handling the graphics department, and pack 768MB of RAM. The handset will sport a 4.3-inch display with qHD (960×540) resolution.

The back of the handset will sport an 8MP camera with dual-LED flash, which is capable of recording videos in 1080p HD resolution. There is also a VGA camera in the front for video-calling.

The usual Wi-Fi b/g/n, GPS with A-GPS, Compass and a 3.5mm audio jack are also present. The Pyramid will run the latest version of Android, Gingerbread v2.3.2, with the latest version of Sense UI on top of it.

The HTC Pyramid is similar to the recently announced HTC EVO 3D, without the 3D feature. Readers can find a bunch of pictures of the handset over at XDA Developers.

Less than a week ago, we reported that the recently released HTC Thunderbolt has got root access, along with its first custom ROM.

The problem with the root method was that it was pretty complex and newbies could get easily confused. Now, an XDA member dbzfanatic has released an easyroot application for the Thunderbolt. The rooting app will only work with firmware version 1.12.605.9 or lower.

As of now, the application is available only for Windows based PCs. The application does have a few bugs, which should be hopefully sorted out soon. Users should keep in mind, that the one-click root app weighs in over 800MB!

The app will also take some time to root your phone since it has to push’ some heavy files to your phone’s memory card, which takes time. Thunderbolt owners can find more information about the Easyroot application from here.

Also, quite a few custom ROMs have popped up for the Thunderbolt including an un-official CM7 port and some custom kernels. Thunderbolt owners need to root their phone before flashing a custom ROM on their handset. Users can check out the various ROMs available for the Thunderbolt here.

One of the most awaited Android phone the HTC Thunderbolt was released to the public in the United States last week.

As soon as the phone was released, developers started getting their act together so as to find a way to root the device. They met with success in less than 24 hours! Yes, root access to Thunderbolt’s system partition was gained by the developers in less than a day of its release.

The handset rooting method is pretty similar to the Desire Z/T-Mobile G2 and the Desire HD rooting method. Thunderbolt owners should proceed with caution because there is a small possibility of bricking their handset, if they make any mistakes. The steps to root the HTC Thunderbolt can be found here.

Soon after the rooting method was released, another developer, adrynalyne, released the first Custom ROM for the Thunderbolt. The ROM is a pretty basic one, and mainly aims at improving the performance of the handset by zip-aligning and de-odexing system files.

It also removes all those pre-installed Verizon bloat and includes a new boot animation. Other changes include an increase in the Dalvik heap size and change in the Wi-Fi polling interval. The ROM can be downloaded and steps to flash it can be found here.

After the launch of the highly successful Motorola Droid, Motorola started shipping its phones with locked down bootloader. These highly locked down bootloader severely restricted the modding capabilities of Moto phones.

One of the most talked about phones this year the Motorola Atrix 4G also ships with a highly locked down bootloader. However, the highly talented developers at XDA managed to get root access to the phone system’s partition in quick time.

In fact, at the moment many Custom ROMs are also out for the Atrix (They are not AOSP based, though).

Now, another awesome developer Sogarth has got a full-blown Linux distro, Ubuntu, up and running on the Atrix 4G. This mod is obviously not meant for the faint hearted, and newbie Atrix owners are highly recommended to stay away.

Possibilities of bricking your beloved Atrix or putting it into an infinite reboot loop are also very much possible. As usual with these mods, a few caveats do exist like installing certain packages can break the Ubuntu installation etc.

The highly complicated steps of installing Ubuntu on the Motorola Atrix 4G can be found here.

It has only been a few days since the T-Mobile G2 started shipping and the handset has already been rooted. The G2 comes with stock version of Android 2.2 i.e. without the popular Sense UI. Rooting an Android phone brings with it a lot of advantage. It allows you to overclock or underclock your phone’s CPU for better performance or better battery life and enable Mobile tethering etcetera.

Users who are interested in rooting their G2 should get adb on their PC and install Terminal Emulator on their handset. The steps to root the G2 can be found here. The only downside of this root is that its temporary in nature. It means that as soon as a user restarts his phone the root will vanish and he will have to re-do the rooting process again.

However, I am pretty sure the folks at XDA-Developers forum will find a workaround for this soon enough.

Last week we told you about an application which lets you root the Motorola Droid X in just a single click. Now, TGA_gunnman over at XDA-Developers has developed an application which allows Samsung Captivate users to root their handset in a single click. The application offers the ability to both root and un-root the phone in just a single clock.

The Samsung Captivate is the AT&T version of the Samsung Galaxy S. The application will work on any firmware for the Captivate, but only on an Android 2.1 based ROM. Here is the link to the thread. Another version of the application is also available for the Samsung Vibrant. However, none of the application will work for the European version of the Samsung Galaxy S and the Samsung Fascinate.

Hopefully, the developer will soon release an updated version of the application which will allow users to root the Fascinate and the Galaxy S in just a single click.

Soon after this update was released, the modders over at XDA forums got back to work and started finding ways to root the EVO 4G. Thankfully, an anonymous modder has been able to find a hack to root the EVO 4G again. This new rooting method uses vulnerability present in Adobe’s Flash Lite Config to do its job.

The method is a bit complex, so only experienced users should try this. Here is the link to the thread with full instructions.